Trump Disputes AP Story

by Carrie Sheffieldon October 19, 2018

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President Trump disagreed with the Associated Press over a headline it had on a story about an interview he gave the AP about the midterm elections, tweeting out that the headline “was very different from my quote and meaning in the story.”

The headline on the AP story from Tuesday reads, “Trump tells AP he won’t accept blame if GOP loses House.”

“AP headline was very different from my quote and meaning in the story. They just can’t help themselves. FAKE NEWS!” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.

The AP reported that, during the wide-ranging interview Tuesday with the president in the Oval Office, Trump rejected the idea that he would be to blame if Republicans lose the House to Democrats on Election Day November 6.

“No, I think I’m helping people,” Trump said, according to the AP. “I don’t believe anybody’s ever had this kind of an impact.”

While Trump didn’t specify his reason for disagreement, one possible meaning is that his comments rejected the entire AP premise that Democrats would win.

The president also reportedly told the AP that while he believes he has been doing and effective job in rallying supporters ahead of Election Day, the fact remains that some of his supporters have said they won’t vote because he is not on the ballot. Turnout generally is lower for midterm congressional elections than presidential elections.

“I’m not running,” he said. “I mean, there are many people that have said to me … ‘I will never ever go and vote in the midterms because you’re not running and I don’t think you like Congress.’ ”

While Republicans currently hold majorities in both chambers of Congress, many mainstream media journalists and some polling suggest Democrats could flip the House next month, however these journalists were deeply wrong in their predictions for the outcome of the 2016 elections.